Jubilee Concert
BILJA KRSTIĆ – 40 YEARS OF CARREER
BISTRIK ORCHESTRA – 15 YEARS OF WORK

Tradition is our history

Bilja (Biljana) Krstić was born in Niš, in 1955. She graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, Department of Music Theory. She worked as a piano teacher at the “Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac” Music School in Negotin for a year. During her studies she collaborated with the bands Suncokret, Rani mraz, with Academic choir Collegium musicum; she was a participant, an actor and a singer in numerous theatre plays for children: S one strane duge (Over the rainbow), Štrumpfovi (The Smurfs), Tri pahulje (Three snowflakes)…
She was a music associate in theatre plays at the National theatre in Belgrade (“Raša Plaović” stage), Atelje 212, Bitef theatre, Belef festival, Slavija Theatre… She was also a host and a co-author of TV shows, and she had small roles in the films Nije nego, Zona Zamfirova… She wrote the film score for the film Branio sam Mladu Bosnu (2014) and won GRAND PRIX at the film festival Sofest 2015.
She has been working with the Bistrik Orchestra for fifteen years, and together they promote Serbia’s ethno-musical heritage through a modern approach. Her sincerity at the stage and her beautiful voice received great acclaim at the concerts across the world and in her home country. Her success was highlighted by the fact that she was invited as the only female Mediterranean performer to participate at the Mostra Sesc de Artes Festival in Sao Paolo in 2005 as the member of the Mediterraneo Orchestra which consisted of 25 top World Music performers from all around the world.
Along with numerous awards, she won “Zlatna medalja“ (“Gold Medal”) of the Cultural Еducational Community for contribution to Serbian culture in 2007 and “Zlatni beocug” (“Golden Ring”) in 2014. She was a Board member of the National Ensemble KOLO (2009-2013), and in 2012 she founded the vocal workshop BISTRIK.
She works as a music editor at the Radio Television of Serbia (Radio Belgrade).

Powerful and explosive, Bistrik is one of the most successful Serbian music projects at the foreign market and one of the most famous World Music bands in Europe.
Presenting music tradition is an extremely responsible and inspiring job which Bilja Krstić and Bistrik orchestra have been doing for 15 years.
So far they have released four albums: Bistrik, Zapisi, Tarpoš and Izvorište. Each of them has won the most prestigious awards in our country and abroad. Album Tarpoš entered the Top of the world list in the most prominent World Music magazine in England – Songlines, and it was also proclaimed the disc of the month by TRAD magazine in France. They are currently finishing their new CD which will be released in autumn 2016.
The music performed by Bilja Krstić & Bistrik Orchestra is a fusion, a blend of traditional ethno music, a cappella performances and ethno grooves with elements of improvisation, in an entirely modern musical context. Their aim is to translate folklore into contemporary art, to awaken the hearts and bring about a renaissance of forgotten emotions. Bilja’s sincerity on stage and her beautiful voice received great acclaim at the concerts across the world and in her home country.  
In 2009 Bilja Krstić and Bistrik Orchestra won the “Vitez srpske muzike” (“The Knight of Serbian Music”) award.
In 2015 Bilja Krstić and Dragomir Miki Stanojević won Grand Prix of the Sopot Film Festival for the original soundtrack for the film Branio sam Mladu Bosnu.